Vehicle axle and hub



sept. l12, 1933.

Filed Feb. 11, 1932 .,`-h J 4 6J JZ f7 i J0 J/`// f /70 4 /A// Il: ""1 l24 Z z/ 'i f' ZZ j.;

,wf TIE-l f-f--I- MAN I Patented Sept. 12, 1933 jUNiTEo j STATES-J PATEVEHICLE AxLEA \Antl1`ony J. Metz, Davenportfl'ovva,"assignor'ofone-thirdto 1R. Porter and-one-third to R. C. Jones, both'ofDavenprtrlowa y Application" Fetrua'ry111,1932 f 5 sepialno. 592,273'y l 5 claims.. j(o1. 28o- 96.31

The present invention relatesto theconstruction of a vehicle axle andhub and more especially to suchconstruction as is concerned with theturningV of the wheel intheact of steering the p 5 vehicle and innormally-keeping the vehicle running straight. ahead. Among the objectsof this invention are to so Vconstruct, a mechanism of the lcharacterindicated as to eliminate the necessity tontos-in; to so construct amechapanying drawing and, while `I have shown therein what is nowconsidered the preferred embodiment of this invention, IL desire thesame to be along the plane indicated by the line 2 2, Fig. V1;

Fig. 3 ,is a transverse section approximately along the .plane indicatedby the line 3 3, Fig. l.

Reference will now be made in greater detail to the annexed drawing fora morecomplete description of my present invention. Inthis drawing, thespokes vare denoted by theV numeral Y1, the hub by the numeral 2 and thebrake drum by the numeral 3. These parts are secured together bysuitable means 4, such as rivets, as is quite common in the art.Suitable bearing seats 5 and 6, are provided inside the hub for thebearingrings 7 and 8 which constituteparts of the hub bearings for thewheel. These `bearings might be ball bearings butI have chosen toillustrate cone bearings because I believe them'preferable. Inasmuch assuch -bearings are standard and can be purchased by anyone desiringsame, I shall not go into a detailed explanation thereof. Y .In Fig. Zitwill be noted thattheinner end of the spindle 9 is hollowed out asindicated at 10 for reception of the end ofthe axle 11. The extreme endof the axle is finished with a cylin-.

drical surface, as indicated at"12, rand this "cooperates with a similarsurfacev at the outer end of the extension 13 of opening 10.Thisarrangement furnishes a lateral thrust bearing between the axle andspindle so as to reduce to a minimum the stress upon, the verticalturning" axle upon and forming af which the wheel turnswhenl the vehicleis being steered..V v y Y The outer portion of the opening 10 isfrustoconical shape, as indicatedrin Figs. 1 and 2, and hasV an yextension 13 whichis flattened in a vertical direction "for reception`oi the extreme end y:oi the axle; Sockets 14 are formed in oppositesides of the axle 11 tor the reception of ball headed plugs' or ballpivots 15,serving as an axle about-which the .wheel spindle turns whenthe `vehicle is steered. The heads of these plugs are preferablyhemispherical and thus furnish a good bearing surface for -the turningof the :wheel horizontally.` A lsocket. 16 is formed in a faceA of i theextension 13 of opening 10 to receive thehead Y of one of the plugs 15.A similar" socket 17 is 4formed in theplug 18 for the reception'of thehead-ot the other plug 15.. It will be apparent that the plug 18' can beadjusted `inwardly or outwardly until the proper degree of tightness issecured at the two ends oilthe turning` axle of thewheel. lWhilevarious; methods of securing the plug lin place maybe employed, I.prefer to passi a tapered pin 19 through this and the adjacent parts Vofthe spindle, thus preventing the plug 18 from backingout and causinglooseness of 1 the bearing. vIf by any chance lthe parts of this bearingshould wearv so that there would be undue'loosen'ess oftheparts'theymaybe disasi sembled and a thin washer placed between one of the ballheads andfthe top or bottom vof the axle 1l. A lubrication aperture 20extendsthrough the plug 18plugs 15 and axle 11,'opening out through thelowersi'deofthe spindle 9, as shownclearly in Figs.A 1v and.ThisaperturerZO carries lubricating means to the wearing surfaces, andgrooves 21 uponthe hemisphericalf surfaces'oi the heads of plugs? l5receive this lubricating means and distribute it overthe contactingsurfaces.

VInv order to make it possible to rreadily remove the ball pivot members15 from their sockets, the

lubrication openings therethrough may be screwt threaded for'theattachment of a properlyscrew- Y threaded member by means `of which apulling'v force may be exerted upon thesepivot members. While I mayprovide other means for removing these ball pivot, members,` I jbelievethat 'the "method of accomplishingthis described above is preferableand-I: have thereforefchosen to illustrate this. means for "theaccomplishment of the desired purpose. While I-have shown only VtheVupper ball pivot member as being screwthreaded, it will.; be understoodthat Yboth the upper and-lower maybe, if Vfound desirable. In-l ffstead,ofnsing this means-of removing the lower pivot men'ibery the lubricationopening through` l the axle might be rnadesomewhat larger than the'correspondingfopening through the lower A pivot memberand a punch couldrthen be inserted lof its socket in the'axle.

2 i l through the axle to drive ther-pivot member out It is now desiredto 'call attention to thewlines 22 and 23 in Fig. 3 of thedrawing, thelformer showing the vertical line through the center `of the wheel inthe medial plane of the 'tire therr-zoi` and the latter showing theposition oftheturning axis about which the wheelturns duringvthesteering operation, that is, the turing 'axis of .the

spindle/Arrow 24 in this figure shows the direc-` brought out by theline "25 in Fig. 2 whichA is thel axial center line of the wheel .and islocatedrearwardly from the center of the axle '11,1 as is4 obvious fromthis figure in which the arrow 26 indicates `the direction of normaltravel o'f the wheel. It is lobvious from Fig. 1 that the axial line of`the axle 11 is located belowv the axial line of the spindle 9;Therefore, there is a greater tendency for the-vehicle to'stick to theroadand not lbounce around so much as ifthefaxial line of Vvthe'axle'were coincident with the axialelinev of `the spindle.

`In assembling vthe parts, the lowerball pivot member or yplug 15isinserted' in its socket 14 and the end of the' axle is then insertedthrough vthe opening IOand its lextension 13 until it contacts with theinner end of the latter. `It is then moved downwardly until the ballhead contacts yWiththe surface 16 when Vthe axle 11 will be just out ofvcontact with vthe bottom face' of lthe opening 13. In -order to makelthis assembly, it is necessary that the plug 18 be out of the openingwhich extends through the .upper part 'of the spindle. After these partshave -been assembled as stated, the upper ball -pivot member 15 is,inserted through theopening in theupper part of the ,spindle and itsshank iszthrust into the upper socket 14 of the axle 11. Whenithisisdone, the axle cannot be removed-from the wheel even ythough the plug18 is not in place. This, there-` fore, serves as a safetyfeature-,preventing the wheel froml dropping off from the vraxle'in-event the plug 1'8 should become loosened lenough' so that the upperball pivot member would not be held thereby. However, kthere is littlechance of this happening Vin view Vof vthe .fact that vafter `the plug18 has been inserted and tightened up until there is a proper degree of.tightness between the spindle, ball pivot members, vand plug 18, thepin 19 is driven Vinto place tofhold the partsassembled..

VA cap kplate 30 is attached tothe inner end of the spindleinember 9bymeans of Vsuitable fastening kdevices 371, illustrated as.' beingshort hex-headed bolts. u. Between the cap .plate 3.0,-

and the inner. yevdgegofthe hub .2 is a gasket 32 to prevent theleakageof lubricant from. the bear-` ing tothe brakey drum., `Integral with orsecured to thecap plate'BO-is a lug 33 to which is connected the crankarm 3 4 Abymeans of'w'hich connection is -made between the steeringmechanism' land the wheel. By increasingthe diameter of the hub and theinner end of the'fspindle' vit will be possible to increasethe size ofthe angle between theV faces of'V the opening 10, as illustrated in lig.2, thus shortening the turning radius for the y' vehicle.

In this specification and ythe appended claims,

V,the term longitudinal axis of the axlefhas been YAYused toV denote acentrally located' straight line lying inthe plane defined bythe twoturning axes of the spindles, the same being below the axes of "thespindles.

.,While I have shown the construction which I consider Vpreferable andhave described other forms of construction, it will of c-ourse beunderstood that various 'modifications of the disclosed structure may belmade without departing from the spirit of my invention Vas set forth inthis speciiication andthe appended claims.

' Having nowk described my invention, I claim:

about which the rspindle turns intersecting the spindle but beinglocated forwardly of the 1ongitudinal axis ofthe spindle.'

2. In a structure for the purpose indicated.

the combination of an axle having in its outer end a pair of sockets forthe reception of ball pivots, a pair of ball pivots located in-saidsockets, aspindle having a socket in one end forthe reception of the endof theaxle, there being in a wall of the socket a socket for thereception of one of the ball pivots and, opposite this, an opening forthe reception of a plug having a socket for the reception of theotherball pivot member, and a'plug in said opening Vhaving a socket toreceii'fe` and cooperate with said second mentioned ball pivot member infurnishing a vertical turning axis about which the spindle may oscillatein a'horizontal direction. n

3. Ina structure for the purpose indicated', the combination of anaxle,-a spindle connected thereto for oscillation `in* a horizontalplane, and a wheel mounted Von said spindlel to rotate therespindlebeing located within the `iigure dened by the Wheel bearings. p. l

Il. In a structure Vof* thecharacter described, an axle, a spindleconnected thereto to oscillate vin a substantially horizontaldirectionabout'an axis passing through' the two, a wheel Amounted kforrotation about Ythe spindle, the longitudinal axisV 'of the axleintersecting Athe axis of oscillation of the spindlebut being locatedforwardly of the longitudinal axis of the spindle.

5.. Inan axle assembly, a spindle having a flaring socket in oneA endthereof, the` inner end of the socket :being partially cylindrical inform, an axle having itsend extending into said socket and lshaped toconform to .the inner end of the socket, meansy pivotally connecting thespindle and axle end for oscillationof the spindle about an axisconcentric` with the cylindrical surface of .the endof the axle, andmeans for adjusting the pressure upon Ythe relatively movable surfaces iof the spindle and axle connecting means. l j I ANTHONY J. METZ.

